application for grants under the · 2015. 1. 29. · 04/24/2014 na andover, town of 046001069...

U.S. Department of EducationWashington, D.C. 20202-5335

APPLICATION FOR GRANTSUNDER THE

Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program CFDA Number 84.351D

CFDA # 84.351D

PR/Award # U351D140007

Gramts.gov Tracking#: GRANT11635402

OMB No. , Expiration Date:

Closing Date: Apr 28, 2014


**Table of Contents**

Form Page

1. Application for Federal Assistance SF-424 e3

Attachment - 1 (1237-Program Areas Affected) e6

Attachment - 2 (1238-Congressional Districts) e7

2. Assurances Non-Construction Programs (SF 424B) e8

3. Disclosure Of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) e10

4. ED GEPA427 Form e11

Attachment - 1 (1235-Andover GEPA 2014) e12

5. Grants.gov Lobbying Form e14

6. ED Abstract Narrative Form e15

Attachment - 1 (1234-Abstract Andover 2014) e16

7. Project Narrative Form e17

Attachment - 1 (1242-Andover final draft narrative) e18

Attachment - 2 (1243-Andover Logic Model 2014) e69

8. Other Narrative Form e70

Attachment - 1 (1240-Merged Resumes Andover 2014) e71

Attachment - 2 (1241-MOU Consortia Andover 2014) e108

9. Budget Narrative Form e116

Attachment - 1 (1239-Andover Budget Narrative 2014) e117

10. Form ED_524_Budget_1_2-V1.2.pdf e123

11. Form ED_SF424_Supplement_1_2-V1.2.pdf e125

Attachment - 1236-Andover Nonexempt Human Subjects narrative.pdf e126

This application was generated using the PDF functionality. The PDF functionality automatically numbers the pages in this application. Some pages/sections of this application may contain 2

sets of page numbers, one set created by the applicant and the other set created by e-Application's PDF functionality. Page numbers created by the e-Application PDF functionality will be

preceded by the letter e (for example, e1, e2, e3, etc.).

Page e2

OMB Number: 4040-0004Expiration Date: 8/31/2016

* 1. Type of Submission: * 2. Type of Application:

* 3. Date Received: 4. Applicant Identifier:

5a. Federal Entity Identifier: 5b. Federal Award Identifier:

6. Date Received by State: 7. State Application Identifier:

* a. Legal Name:

* b. Employer/Taxpayer Identification Number (EIN/TIN): * c. Organizational DUNS:

* Street1:

Street2:

* City:

County/Parish:

* State:

Province:

* Country:

* Zip / Postal Code:

Department Name: Division Name:

Prefix: * First Name:

Middle Name:

* Last Name:

Suffix:

Title:

Organizational Affiliation:

* Telephone Number: Fax Number:

* Email:

* If Revision, select appropriate letter(s):

* Other (Specify):

State Use Only:

8. APPLICANT INFORMATION:

d. Address:

e. Organizational Unit:

f. Name and contact information of person to be contacted on matters involving this application:

Application for Federal Assistance SF-424

Preapplication

Application

Changed/Corrected Application

New

Continuation

Revision

04/24/2014

NA

Andover, Town of

046001069 1687237810000

36 Bartlet St

Andover

MA: Massachusetts

USA: UNITED STATES

01810-3813

Andover Public Schools

Ms. Nancy

Duclos

Asst Superintendent, Curriculum & Instruction

Andover, Town of

978-623-8506

[email protected]


Page e3

* 9. Type of Applicant 1: Select Applicant Type:

Type of Applicant 2: Select Applicant Type:

Type of Applicant 3: Select Applicant Type:

* Other (specify):

* 10. Name of Federal Agency:

11. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number:

CFDA Title:

* 12. Funding Opportunity Number:

* Title:

13. Competition Identification Number:

Title:

14. Areas Affected by Project (Cities, Counties, States, etc.):

* 15. Descriptive Title of Applicant's Project:

Attach supporting documents as specified in agency instructions.


C: City or Township Government

X: Other (specify)

LEA

U.S. Department of Education

84.351

Arts in Education

ED-GRANTS-022514-001

Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII): Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program CFDA Number 84.351D

84-351D2014-1

New England ArtsLiteracy

View AttachmentsDelete AttachmentsAdd Attachments

View AttachmentDelete AttachmentAdd AttachmentProgram Areas Affected.pdf


Page e4

* a. Federal

* b. Applicant

* c. State

* d. Local

* e. Other

* f. Program Income

* g. TOTAL

.

Prefix: * First Name:

Middle Name:

* Last Name:

Suffix:

* Title:

* Telephone Number:

* Email:

Fax Number:

* Signature of Authorized Representative: * Date Signed:

18. Estimated Funding ($):

21. *By signing this application, I certify (1) to the statements contained in the list of certifications** and (2) that the statements herein are true, complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I also provide the required assurances** and agree to comply with any resulting terms if I accept an award. I am aware that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may subject me to criminal, civil, or administrative penalties. (U.S. Code, Title 218, Section 1001)

** The list of certifications and assurances, or an internet site where you may obtain this list, is contained in the announcement or agency specific instructions.

Authorized Representative:


* a. Applicant

Attach an additional list of Program/Project Congressional Districts if needed.

* b. Program/Project

* a. Start Date: * b. End Date:

16. Congressional Districts Of:

17. Proposed Project:

MA-06 MA-01

Congressional Districts.pdf Add Attachment Delete Attachment View Attachment

08/31/201809/01/2014

448,099.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

448,099.00

a. This application was made available to the State under the Executive Order 12372 Process for review on

b. Program is subject to E.O. 12372 but has not been selected by the State for review.

c. Program is not covered by E.O. 12372.

Yes No

Add Attachment Delete Attachment View Attachment

** I AGREE

Lisa

Glickstein

Grants Coordinator

978-623-8580

[email protected]

Lisa Glickstein

* 20. Is the Applicant Delinquent On Any Federal Debt? (If "Yes," provide explanation in attachment.)

* 19. Is Application Subject to Review By State Under Executive Order 12372 Process?

04/24/2014

If "Yes", provide explanation and attach


Page e5


Andover Public Schools Page 1

Project Cities/Towns

Andover, MA

Salem, MA

Warren, MA

West Brookfield, MA

Worcester, MA

Counties

Essex County, MA

Worcester County, MA


Page e6



Project Congressional Districts

MA-01

MA-02

MA-05

MA-06


Page e7

1.

OMB Number: 4040-0007 Expiration Date: 06/30/2014

ASSURANCES - NON-CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMSPublic reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 15 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0348-0040), Washington, DC 20503. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET. SEND IT TO THE ADDRESS PROVIDED BY THE SPONSORING AGENCY.

NOTE: Certain of these assurances may not be applicable to your project or program. If you have questions, please contact the awarding agency. Further, certain Federal awarding agencies may require applicants to certify to additional assurances. If such is the case, you will be notified.

As the duly authorized representative of the applicant, I certify that the applicant:

Has the legal authority to apply for Federal assistance and the institutional, managerial and financial capability (including funds sufficient to pay the non-Federal share of project cost) to ensure proper planning, management and completion of the project described in this application.

Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. §794), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicaps; (d) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended (42 U.S.C. §§6101-6107), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age; (e) the Drug Abuse Office and Treatment Act of 1972 (P.L. 92-255), as amended, relating to nondiscrimination on the basis of drug abuse; (f) the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-616), as amended, relating to nondiscrimination on the basis of alcohol abuse or alcoholism; (g) §§523 and 527 of the Public Health Service Act of 1912 (42 U.S.C. §§290 dd-3 and 290 ee- 3), as amended, relating to confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records; (h) Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. §§3601 et seq.), as amended, relating to nondiscrimination in the sale, rental or financing of housing; (i) any other nondiscrimination provisions in the specific statute(s) under which application for Federal assistance is being made; and, (j) the requirements of any other nondiscrimination statute(s) which may apply to the application.

2. Will give the awarding agency, the Comptroller General of the United States and, if appropriate, the State, through any authorized representative, access to and the right to examine all records, books, papers, or documents related to the award; and will establish a proper accounting system in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards or agency directives.

3. Will establish safeguards to prohibit employees from using their positions for a purpose that constitutes or presents the appearance of personal or organizational conflict of interest, or personal gain.

4. Will initiate and complete the work within the applicable time frame after receipt of approval of the awarding agency.

5. Will comply with the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. §§4728-4763) relating to prescribed standards for merit systems for programs funded under one of the 19 statutes or regulations specified in Appendix A of OPM's Standards for a Merit System of Personnel Administration (5 C.F.R. 900, Subpart F).

6. Will comply with all Federal statutes relating to nondiscrimination. These include but are not limited to: (a) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-352) which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin; (b) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended (20 U.S.C.§§1681- 1683, and 1685-1686), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; (c) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation

Previous Edition Usable Standard Form 424B (Rev. 7-97)Prescribed by OMB Circular A-102Authorized for Local Reproduction

7. Will comply, or has already complied, with the requirements of Titles II and III of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-646) which provide for fair and equitable treatment of persons displaced or whose property is acquired as a result of Federal or federally-assisted programs. These requirements apply to all interests in real property acquired for project purposes regardless of Federal participation in purchases.

8. Will comply, as applicable, with provisions of the Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. §§1501-1508 and 7324-7328) which limit the political activities of employees whose principal employment activities are funded in whole or in part with Federal funds.


Page e8

Standard Form 424B (Rev. 7-97) Back

9.

12.

Will comply, as applicable, with the provisions of the Davis- Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. §§276a to 276a-7), the Copeland Act (40 U.S.C. §276c and 18 U.S.C. §874), and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (40 U.S.C. §§327- 333), regarding labor standards for federally-assisted construction subagreements.

Will comply with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (16 U.S.C. §§1271 et seq.) related to protecting components or potential components of the national wild and scenic rivers system.

10. Will comply, if applicable, with flood insurance purchase requirements of Section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-234) which requires recipients in a special flood hazard area to participate in the program and to purchase flood insurance if the total cost of insurable construction and acquisition is $10,000 or more.

11. Will comply with environmental standards which may be prescribed pursuant to the following: (a) institution of environmental quality control measures under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (P.L. 91-190) and Executive Order (EO) 11514; (b) notification of violating facilities pursuant to EO 11738; (c) protection of wetlands pursuant to EO 11990; (d) evaluation of flood hazards in floodplains in accordance with EO 11988; (e) assurance of project consistency with the approved State management program developed under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. §§1451 et seq.); (f) conformity of Federal actions to State (Clean Air) Implementation Plans under Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act of 1955, as amended (42 U.S.C. §§7401 et seq.); (g) protection of underground sources of drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, as amended (P.L. 93-523); and, (h) protection of endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (P.L. 93- 205).

13. Will assist the awarding agency in assuring compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (16 U.S.C. §470), EO 11593(identification and protection of historic properties), and the Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. §§469a-1 et seq.).

14. Will comply with P.L. 93-348 regarding the protection of human subjects involved in research, development, and related activities supported by this award of assistance.

15. Will comply with the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966 (P.L. 89-544, as amended, 7 U.S.C. §§2131 et seq.) pertaining to the care, handling, and treatment of warm blooded animals held for research, teaching, or other activities supported by this award of assistance.

16. Will comply with the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. §§4801 et seq.) which prohibits the use of lead-based paint in construction or rehabilitation of residence structures.

17. Will cause to be performed the required financial and compliance audits in accordance with the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 and OMB Circular No. A-133, "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations."

18. Will comply with all applicable requirements of all other Federal laws, executive orders, regulations, and policies governing this program.

SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED CERTIFYING OFFICIAL TITLE

DATE SUBMITTEDAPPLICANT ORGANIZATION

Grants Coordinator

Andover, Town of

Lisa Glickstein

04/24/2014

Will comply with the requirements of Section 106(g) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, as amended (22 U.S.C. 7104) which prohibits grant award recipients or a sub-recipient from (1) Engaging in severe forms of trafficking in persons during the period of time that the award is in effect (2) Procuring a commercial sex act during the period of time that the award is in effect or (3) Using forced labor in the performance of the award or subawards under the award.

19.


Page e9

10. a. Name and Address of Lobbying Registrant:

9. Award Amount, if known: $

* Street 1

* City State Zip

Street 2

* Last Name

Prefix * First Name Middle Name

Suffix

DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIESComplete this form to disclose lobbying activities pursuant to 31 U.S.C.1352

Approved by OMB0348-0046

1. * Type of Federal Action:a. contract

b. grant

c. cooperative agreement

d. loan

e. loan guarantee

f. loan insurance

2. * Status of Federal Action:a. bid/offer/application

b. initial award

c. post-award

3. * Report Type:a. initial filing

b. material change

4. Name and Address of Reporting Entity:Prime SubAwardee

* NameAndover, Town of

* Street 136 Bartlet St

Street 2

* CityAndover

StateMA: Massachusetts

Zip01810

Congressional District, if known: MA-05

5. If Reporting Entity in No.4 is Subawardee, Enter Name and Address of Prime:

6. * Federal Department/Agency:Education Department

7. * Federal Program Name/Description:Arts in Education

CFDA Number, if applicable: 84.351

8. Federal Action Number, if known:

None

None

b. Individual Performing Services (including address if different from No. 10a) Prefix * First Name Middle Name

* Street 1

* City State Zip

Street 2

None

None

11.

* Last Name Suffix

Information requested through this form is authorized by title 31 U.S.C. section 1352. This disclosure of lobbying activities is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed by the tier above when the transaction was made or entered into. This disclosure is required pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 1352. This information will be reported to the Congress semi-annually and will be available for public inspection. Any person who fails to file the required disclosure shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more than $100,000 for each such failure.

* Signature:

04/24/2014

Lisa Glickstein

*Name: Prefix * First NameLisa

Middle Name

* Last NameGlickstein

Suffix

Title: Telephone No.: Date:

Federal Use Only: Authorized for Local Reproduction Standard Form - LLL (Rev. 7-97) PR/Award # U351D140007

Page e10

OMB Number: 1894-0005 Expiration Date: 03/31/2014

NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS

The purpose of this enclosure is to inform you about a new provision in the Department of Education's General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) that applies to applicants for new grant awards under Department programs. This provision is Section 427 of GEPA, enacted as part of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law (P.L.) 103-382).

To Whom Does This Provision Apply?

Section 427 of GEPA affects applicants for new grant awards under this program. ALL APPLICANTS FOR NEW AWARDS MUST INCLUDE INFORMATION IN THEIR APPLICATIONS TO ADDRESS THIS NEW PROVISION IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER THIS PROGRAM.

(If this program is a State-formula grant program, a State needs to provide this description only for projects or activities that it carries out with funds reserved for State-level uses. In addition, local school districts or other eligible applicants that apply to the State for funding need to provide this description in their applications to the State for funding. The State would be responsible for ensuring that the school district or other local entity has submitted a sufficient section 427 statement as described below.)

What Does This Provision Require?

Section 427 requires each applicant for funds (other than an individual person) to include in its application a description of the steps the applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable access to, and participation in, its Federally-assisted program for students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries with special needs. This provision allows applicants discretion in developing the required description. The statute highlights six types of barriers that can impede equitable access or participation: gender, race, national origin, color, disability, or age. Based on local circumstances, you should determine whether these or other barriers may prevent your students, teachers, etc. from such access or participation in, the Federally-funded project or activity. The description in your application of steps to be taken to overcome these barriers need not be lengthy; you may provide a clear and succinct

description of how you plan to address those barriers that are applicable to your circumstances. In addition, the information may be provided in a single narrative, or, if appropriate, may be discussed in connection with related topics in the application.

Section 427 is not intended to duplicate the requirements of civil rights statutes, but rather to ensure that, in designing their projects, applicants for Federal funds address equity concerns that may affect the ability of certain potential beneficiaries to fully participate in the project and to achieve to high standards. Consistent with program requirements and its approved application, an applicant may use the Federal funds awarded to it to eliminate barriers it identifies.

What are Examples of How an Applicant Might Satisfy the Requirement of This Provision?

The following examples may help illustrate how an applicant may comply with Section 427.

(1) An applicant that proposes to carry out an adult literacy project serving, among others, adults with limited English proficiency, might describe in its application how it intends to distribute a brochure about the proposed project to such potential participants in their native language. (2) An applicant that proposes to develop instructional materials for classroom use might describe how it will make the materials available on audio tape or in braille for students who are blind. (3) An applicant that proposes to carry out a model science program for secondary students and is concerned that girls may be less likely than boys to enroll in the course, might indicate how it intends to conduct "outreach" efforts to girls, to encourage their enrollment.

We recognize that many applicants may already be implementing effective steps to ensure equity of access and participation in their grant programs, and we appreciate your cooperation in responding to the requirements of this provision.

Estimated Burden Statement for GEPA Requirements

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1.5 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain benefit (Public Law 103-382). Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or email [email protected] and reference the OMB Control Number 1894-0005.

Optional - You may attach 1 file to this page.

Andover GEPA 2014.pdf View AttachmentDelete AttachmentAdd Attachment


Page e11



Assurance for GEPA Section 427

The New England ArtsLiteracy project proposes to recruit 120 teachers from

three LEA to participate in professional development. The LEA are all Equal

Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employers and stipulate to all prospective employees

that “Upon request, auxiliary aides and services will be provided to ensure effective

communication and participation in this recruitment and application process as specified

with the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

For the purpose of the New England ArtsLiteracy project, there will be no

discrimination for participant recruitment on the basis of gender, race, national origin,

color disability, or age. Participants must be employed as a teacher within a participating

consortium district and school. It is anticipated that men and women across a range of

ages and irrespective of race, national origin, or disability will participate in the project.

Because these are certified and licensed teachers, language translation and translated

materials are not expected to be necessary. Both Andover and Quaboag are recruiting

special education teachers to participate. Professional development activities will be held

in accessible buildings and venues. Due to the small number of participants, it is unlikely

that a large number of individuals with a physical disability would participate in

professional development. If such a person did participate, Andover Public Schools

would provide auxiliary aides and services not limited to physical aides or devices to

participate in activities or museum tours.

All students in participating teachers’ classrooms will be project participants,

unless opted out by their parents during the consent process. As described in the proposal,

the districts serve male and female students across a full range of races, national origins,


Page e12



and ethnicities. When appropriate and necessary, language translation and translated

materials will be provided, for example we will translate the consent and assent forms

into Chinese and Spanish. As special education teachers will be recruited, and as all three

districts’ students include a number with special needs, the project does expect to serve

such students. Bus transportation for field trips will be provided for students with

physical disabilities or needing wheelchair transportation if transportation is provided for

other participants, and one to one aides assigned to students included for field trips.

Classroom art activities, including visual, dance, dramatic and musical arts will be

adapted to the physical and other needs of the participants.


Page e13

Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loans, and Cooperative Agreements

(2) If any funds other than Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with this Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement, the undersigned shall complete and submit Standard Form-LLL, ''Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,'' in accordance with its instructions.

(3) The undersigned shall require that the language of this certification be included in the award documents for all subawards at all tiers (including subcontracts, subgrants, and contracts under grants, loans, and cooperative agreements) and that all subrecipients shall certify and disclose accordingly. This certification is a material representation of fact upon which reliance was placed when this transaction was made or entered into. Submission of this certification is a prerequisite for making or entering into this transaction imposed by section 1352, title 31, U.S. Code. Any person who fails to file the required certification shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $10,00 0 and not more than $100,000 for each such failure.

If any funds have been paid or will be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with this commitment providing for the United States to insure or guarantee a loan, the undersigned shall complete and submit Standard Form-LLL, ''Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,'' in accordance with its instructions. Submission of this statement is a prerequisite for making or entering into this transaction imposed by section 1352, title 31, U.S. Code. Any person who fails to file the required statement shall be subjec t to a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more than $100,000 for each such failure.

* APPLICANT'S ORGANIZATION

* SIGNATURE: * DATE:

* PRINTED NAME AND TITLE OF AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE

Suffix:

Middle Name:

* Title:

* First Name:

* Last Name:

Prefix:

CERTIFICATION REGARDING LOBBYING

(1) No Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid, by or on behalf of the undersigned, to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer or employee of an agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with the awarding of any Federal contract, the making of any Federal grant, the making of any Federal loan, the entering into of any cooperative agreement, and the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of any Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.

The undersigned certifies, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, that:

Statement for Loan Guarantees and Loan Insurance

The undersigned states, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, that:

Andover, Town of

Lisa

Grants Coordinator

Glickstein

Lisa Glickstein 04/24/2014


Page e14

AbstractThe abstract narrative must not exceed one page and should use language that will be understood by a range of audiences. For all projects, include the project title (if applicable), goals, expected outcomes and contributions for research, policy, practice, etc. Include population to be served, as appropriate. For research applications, also include the following:

Theoretical and conceptual background of the study (i.e., prior research that this investigation builds upon and that provides a compelling rationale for this study)

Study design including a brief description of the sample including sample size, methods, principals dependent, independent, and control variables, and the approach to data analysis.

···

* Attachment:

[Note: For a non-electronic submission, include the name and address of your organization and the name, phone number and e-mail address of the contact person for this project.]

Research issues, hypotheses and questions being addressed

Abstract Andover 2014.pdf View AttachmentDelete AttachmentAdd Attachment

You must attach one and only one file to this page.You may now Close the Form

You have attached 1 file to this page, no more files may be added. To add a different file, you must first delete the existing file.


Page e15

New England ArtsLiteracy Project

Andover Public Schools (36 Bartlet St, Andover MA 01810) Page 1

Nancy Duclos (978-623-8506, [email protected])

Abstract

The New England ArtsLiteracy project is a collaboration among the Andover and Salem

Public Schools and the Quaboag Regional Innovation District, in partnership with the Peabody

Essex Museum, Addison Gallery of American Art, and a team of arts education professionals to

expand, document, evaluate, and disseminate the research-based Performance Cycle model. Arts

integration has been shown to improve student engagement, academic self-concept, and school

climate, and the Performance Cycle model was one of a few arts integration models found to

create powerful contexts and conditions for learning. The project’s goals are teachers who can

connect literacy, the arts, and other content areas; schools with a positive climate and the

capacity to offer high quality technology embedded integrated arts curricula; and students who

are engaged in learning with a high academic self-concept and excellent reading comprehension.

The project will recruit 120 K-8 art, music, ELA, social studies, science, math and special

education teachers for sustained professional development, and classroom implementation of

new units of study based on the Performance Cycle framework and carried out by teacher teams

together with visiting arts and using the collections and skills of our cultural partners. Short-term

outcomes include improved teacher attitudes about collaborative work, teachers who know how

to implement the model, and improved student engagement and academic self-concept.

Intermediate-term outcomes include increased use of the Performance Cycle framework,

improvements in reading comprehension indicators, and increased capacity for technology

embedded collaborative teaching and learning. Finally, expected long-term outcomes include

improvements in school climate, improved learning outcomes as measured by state assessments,

and creation of a New England network of arts integration experts and partners to carry on this

work after the period of federal funding.


Page e16

Project Narrative File(s)

* Mandatory Project Narrative File Filename:

To add more Project Narrative File attachments, please use the attachment buttons below.

Close Form

Andover final draft narrative.pdf

View Mandatory Project Narrative FileDelete Mandatory Project Narrative FileAdd Mandatory Project Narrative File

Add Optional Project Narrative File Delete Optional Project Narrative File View Optional Project Narrative File


Page e17



Table of Contents

Absolute Priority:.......................................................................................................................... 1

Competitive Priority 1--Turning Around Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools:. ................... 2

Competitive Priority 2--Technology:. .......................................................................................... 2

(1) Need for Project: (a) ................................................................................................................ 4

(1) Need for Project: (b) ............................................................................................................... 7

(2) Significance:. .......................................................................................................................... 11

(3) Quality of the Project Design: (a) ........................................................................................ 15

(3) Quality of the Project Design: (b) ........................................................................................ 18

(3) Quality of the Project Design: (c)......................................................................................... 26

(3) Quality of the Project Design: (d) . ...................................................................................... 28

(4) Quality of Project Personnel: (a) ......................................................................................... 29

(4) Quality of Project Personnel: (b) ......................................................................................... 30

(5) Quality of the Management Plan: (a) .................................................................................. 35

(5) Quality of the Management Plan: (b) .................................................................................. 42

(5) Quality of the Management Plan: (c) .................................................................................. 43

(6) Quality of the Project Evaluation: (a) ................................................................................. 44

(6) Quality of the Project Evaluation: (b) ................................................................................. 46

(6) Quality of the Project Evaluation: (c) ................................................................................. 46


Page e18



Absolute Priority: This priority supports projects that enhance, expand,

document, evaluate, and disseminate innovative, cohesive models that are based

on research and have demonstrated their effectiveness in (1) integrating

standards-based arts education into the core elementary or middle school

curriculum, (2) strengthening standards-based arts instruction in the elementary

or middle school grades, and (3) improving the academic performance of students

in elementary or middle school grades, including thei r skills in creating,

performing, and responding to the arts.

The New England ArtsLiteracy partnership project is a collaboration among three school

districts, two museum partners, and a group of arts integration and education experts to expand,

document, evaluate, and disseminate the research-based Performance Cycle model (figure 1).

The Performance Cycle model, developed by Eileen Landay and Kurt Wootton in the education

department at Brown Unviersity, integrates and

strengthens standards-based arts education (Landay and

Wootton, 2012). The Performance Cycle provides

teachers and artists with the tools to engage students in

a process of deep understanding by building a

classroom community of learners that centers on a text.

Students respond to the text and demonstrate their

knowledge through high-quality performance and

artistic presentations. The Performance Cycle model is analogous to the student team reading and

writing approach that has been demonstrated to improve academic performance (reading

comprehension; IES, 2011). Arts integration has been shown to improve student engagement,

academic self-concept, and school climate (Burton et al, 2000), and the Performance Cycle

model was one of a few arts integration models found to create powerful contexts and conditions

for learning (Stevenson and Deasy, 2005).

Figure 1


Page e19



Competitive Priority 1--Turning Around Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools:

(a) Improving student achievement, (b) Providing services to students enrolled.

The Department considers schools that are identified as Tier I or Tier II schools

under the School Improvement Grants program as part of a State’s approved FY

2009-11 applications to be persistently lowest-achieving schools.

One of our participating schools, the Collins Middle School (Salem, MA; NCES ID,

251038002404; LEA ID, 2510380) is identified as a Tier II school under the SIG program, as

part of Massachusetts’ approved FY09 application, to be a persistently lowest-achieving school.

The New England ArtsLiteracy project has as one of its goals to improve student achievement in

participating schools, and will be providing direct services to students. Thus, this proposal meets

the criteria for Priority 1.

Competitive Priority 2--Technology: Projects that are designed to improve

student achievement or teacher effectiveness through the use of high -quality

digital tools or materials.

The New England ArtsLiteracy project embraces the concept of “multiliteracies,” which

refers to a) an understanding of the linguistic and cultural diversity of our global society; and b)

the multiple ways we communicate with today’s technologies (New London Group, 1996).

Image, audio, video, and performance are no longer separate and distinct fields, but are

increasingly becoming interconnected with advances in technology. We realize that teaching and

learning need to embrace the linkages in subject areas, artistic mediums, and technologies. The

Performance Cycle itself encourages learners to comprehend and create in multiple mediums.

Teachers will also learn how to link mediums to enhance students’ ability to understand and

manipulate “multiple literacies.”

First, the New England ArtsLiteracy project intends to use technology to create a

community of learners, and as a communication tool that will ensure access to information,

develop virtual relationships among the three districts, and communicate our work to our


Page e20



respective communities. This is important as our districts are not geographically contiguous (in

fact, Quaboag Regional Innovation district is approximately 85 miles from Salem or Andover,

which are 17 miles apart). Teachers will be trained in acceptable use of technology, best

practices in electronic communications about and with students in their classrooms, and creating

virtual field trips. Teachers will be required to use digital communication platforms as part of

their professional development and implementation, and encouraged to practice digital media

exchange with their students using district-approved or built platforms. The second tool will use

our partner museum web pages to create virtual field trips. Teachers will work with the museum

partners to access collections online and create or modify existing field trip guides for virtual

visits. Finally, the third type of digital tool will be a digital archive for teachers to post lesson

plans and other developed materials, such as standards-based curriculum maps, samples of

student work, videos of classroom experiences or performances, for use by others. This will

ultimately be opened as a public forum to share the projects’ accomplishments and sustain them

by expanding the audience for the work to future teachers in participating districts, as well as

others. Teachers anywhere can already access information about the Performance Cycle

(www.artslit.org), including the ArtsLiteracy organization mission and project components; the

Performance Cycle model; the ArtsLiteracy Handbook (containing arts activities and teaching

methods); and samples of student work. Both the ArtsLiteracy organization and the project will

confer about whether to use the existing website as a dissemination platform about this project or

to create a project-specific resource.

This work is supported by all three districts. An emphasis on incorporating technology

into the classrooms is embedded in the Quabog Regional Innovation district’s school

improvement plan. At the Collins Middle School in Salem, teachers strive to integrate

technology and research into units of study. Finally, improving integration of technology across


Page e21



all instructional areas is a plank of the Andover Public Schools strategic plan and the district is in

the planning phase of implementing a one to one computing environment for grades 6-12 to

begin in the next two years. The New England ArtsLiteracy project proposal includes a dedicated

education technology coordinator, to ensure appropriate time and human resources are devoted

to this goal.

NEW LONDON GROUP. “A PEDAGOGY OF MULTILITERACIES: DESIGNING SOCIAL FUTURES.” HARVARD

EDUCATIONAL REVIEW (1996); 66(1).

(1) Need for Project: (a) the extent to which the proposed project will provide

services or otherwise address the needs of students at risk of educational failure.

The New England ArtsLiteracy collaborative project brings together professional

development experts, internationally recognized regional museums, and three school districts to

provide services to students to improve learning outcomes, particularly around reading

comprehension, which is increasingly needed for success in all content areas, including

mathematics and science. It is important to note that the New England ArtsLiteracy project

proposes a series of activities to include Performance Cycle training, while the ArtsLiteracy

Project at Brown University is a separate entity that developed and continues to disseminate this

model.

Each district has a group of students “at risk of educational failure.” The lead district,

Andover Public Schools, is comprised of ten schools, nine of which including six elementary and

three middle schools are participating. Of the total student population, 5% of students are

Hispanic; 76% are White; 2% are Black; and 14% are Asian/Pacific Islander (more than twice

the state average). Six percent of students are eligible for subsidized lunch programs, 2% of

students are English Language Learners (an additional 10% have a first language other than

English), and 23% of students are classified as “high needs.” Although 26% of grade 3 students


Page e22



scored as warning or needs improvement on the Reading assessment, only 2% of students are in

these categories on the grade 10 ELA assessment. Andover’s four-year graduation rate is 95%

for all students, although some subpopulations are as low as 79-83%. The mobility rate in

Andover is low (3%), except for ELL (16%). Andover has 2,000 students in grades 5 – 8,

proposed to be served in the project and about 230 of these students will fall into one or more

high need categories.

Quaboag Regional Innovation district, the second partner district, consists of four

schools, of which two elementary schools and the middle school are participating in this project.

Of the total student population in Quaboag, 4% of students are Hispanic; 92% are White; and 1%

is Black. In this rural district, 45% of students are eligible for subsidized lunch programs, and

52% of students are classified as “high needs.” Although 50% of Grade 3 students scored in the

warning or needs improvement categories on the Reading assessment, only 8% of students are in

these categories on the Grade 10 ELA assessment. Quaboag’s four-year graduation rate is 79%

for all students. Warren Community Elementary School serves 461 students in grades K – 6,

54% low-income and 57% (263 students) high needs, while West Brookfield Elementary School

serves 311 students in these grades, and 29% are low-income and 36% (90 students) are high

needs. The middle school serves 246 students in grades 7 – 8, and 57% (140 students) are high

needs.

Salem Public Schools, the third partner district, is an urban district comprised of eleven

schools. Of these, the Collins Middle School is participating. Thirty-five percent of the 618

students at Collins are Hispanic (twice the state average); 52% are White; 7% are Black; and 3%

are Asian/Pacific Islander. Sixty-one percent of students are eligible for subsidized lunch

programs, 9% of students are English Language Learners (an additional 24% have a first

language other than English), and 68% of students (420 students) are classified as “high needs.”


Page e23



Forty-nine percent of Grade 6 students scored as Warning/Needs Improvement on the ELA

assessment, and 39% still score in these categories in grade 8. Salem’s four-year graduation rate

is 88% for all students. The mobility rate in Salem is not reported but is likely to be high, based

on the number of ELL students.

We consider students at-risk if they score in the warning or needs improvement

categories in elementary or middle school, require special education services, come from a low-

income family, or have a first language other than English, particularly ELL who also may be

recent immigrants with family members who do not speak English, and a history or risk of

relocation. Altogether, this project will serve an estimated 3,000 students, including 915 at-risk

students, over the second, third and fourth project years. One of the strengths of this project is a

partnership among three disparate districts (urban, suburban and rural) serving different student

populations, that exceed the state average for Asian students (Andover), Hispanic students

(Salem) and low-income students (Salem and Quaboag).

At-risk students have been shown to require additional reading and learning supports and

interventions, but also to benefit from intervention to improve engagement and academic self-

concept, increased efforts to engage their parents and community with the school, and

improvements to the school climate including teacher renewal and retention. Evaluation of an

AEMDD grant-funded project in the Central Falls School District (RI) found that Performance

Cycle intervention was particularly effective in engaging and motivating English language

learners to increased engagement in reading and comprehension of written texts (Horowitz,

unpublished final evaluation report, 2006). Services for students will include new lessons and

curricula developed collaboratively and peer-reviewed by their own teachers using the

ArtsLiteracy organization Performance Cycle framework and enhanced by on site and virtual


Page e24



field trips to museums and opportunities to work with visiting artists across the dramatic,

musical, dance and visual arts.

The proposed project sets in motion the necessary resources to serve students who are at

risk of school failure. The goal of the New England ArtsLiteracy project is not only for students

to develop essential analytical literacy and performance skills, but to provide teachers with the

skills to instill in students the capacity for continued success. While the school districts have

demonstrated a commitment to improving teaching and learning, additional support and

resources are vital to ensure that at-risk students have the opportunity to succeed.

(1) Need for Project: (b) The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses in

services, infrastructure, or opportunities have been i dentified and will be

addressed.

Although our three districts serve different demographic populations, we all share a

common commitment to students, and a need for additional literacy strategies to improve reading

comprehension, increase interdisciplinary curriculum, and emphasize the “four C’s” (creativity,

collaboration, critical thinking and communication). Thus, we will be able to see how the

proposed intervention succeeds in improving common learning outcomes over diverse student

sub-populations.

Through data analysis of state assessment results, Andover has identified reading

comprehension as a relative weakness for all student populations, and particularly at-risk sub-

populations. Andover teachers have identified reading comprehension as a weakness for students

entering middle school through the use of curriculum based measures and standardized

comprehension assessment tools. The district has recognized this and supports dedicated reading

teachers to each of the middle schools as well as extended professional development in how to

target instruction to increase reading comprehension. Quaboag Regional formed their first data


Page e25



teams in September 2013. While still in the process of identifying needs, reading comprehension

is a concern of teachers across content areas. The Collins School in Salem has identified literacy

as a priority as students in all grade levels are performing below state averages for students

scoring proficient/advanced on MCAS. In addition, the Massachusetts ELA and Literacy

Standards, that include the Common Core, increase emphasis on text complexity, different types

of writing (narrative, informational, and argument) and on writing across the curriculum content

areas, necessitating literacy professional development and new teaching strategies.

The three partners, though committed to effectively integrating high-quality arts into the

core curriculum, have identified a number of weaknesses in their approach to doing so. The

Collins School (Salem) has a strong arts emphasis (with three arts and three music teachers at the

school). However, the arts are not integrated with other content areas. A goal in the current

school improvement plan is to reinstitute content area resource nights and to restore emphasis on

importance of familial involvement in the exhibition process. Salem CyberSpace and the Salem

Public Schools were also awarded a grant to run a full-year 21st Century Community Learning

Center after-school enrichment program at the Collins Middle School. This after-school program

opened on February 25th for up to 60 youth but will only continue to December 31, 2015. The

Collins School is also in the process of applying for a grant for Expanded Learning Time, and

will need to build partnerships with outside groups and provide teacher professional development

to create more interdisciplinary lessons and arts curricula.

The structures at the Quaboag Middle Innovation School create space for more arts

programming and interdisciplinary instruction. The district’s two elementary schools are science,

technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) focused, but the district feels the

emphasis is currently heavily weighted towards STEM, without enough arts integration.

Professional development is needed to fully implement the schools’ overarching theme. The


Page e26



district has also identified increased community engagement, technology integration, and

leadership team qualitative data collection and observation as improvement plan goals.

Finally, Andover Public Schools is in the third year of its five-year strategic plan.

Andover has identified gaps in interdisciplinary course offerings, integrating technology in

classrooms, and project-based learning at the middle school level. The district has committed to

providing all middle school teachers with the opportunity to participate in professional

development for project-based learning but this allows for additional support and strategies that

augment project-based learning and allows teachers to go deeper.

The identified gaps and weaknesses will be directly addressed by the proposed New

England ArtsLiteracy project. The Performance Cycle was developed as a framework for

building literacy education curricula, and provides teachers and artists with the tools to engage

students in a process of deep understanding by building a classroom community of learners that

centers on a text. Education research (summarized below) explicates the link between the student

team reading and writing approach embedded in the Performance Cycle model and gains in

reading comprehension. Performance Cycle training purposefully enables teachers to create

opportunities for students to perform their understanding of text. Students respond to texts and

demonstrate their knowledge through high-quality performance and artistic presentations. The

process is particularly important to at-risk students as it provides opportunities to connect

academic achievement with identity formation, to involve students in communities of practice as

apprentices and active learners, to access high-level language environments that may be

unparalleled in students’ homes, and to solidify self-regulatory behaviors that transfer to

academic work. Integrated arts instruction in general, and the Performance Cycle specifically,

have also been shown to improve academic self-concept, student engagement and school climate.


Page e27



Teachers will be recruited during the planning year. The Collins Middle School intends to

target its six art and music teachers, and up to twelve additional social studies and special

education teachers. This population of eighteen teachers was selected in order to fill the

identified needs for more interdisciplinary and global learning in social studies and improved

literacy for students who receive special education services. The Quaboag Regional Innovation

district intends to recruit three art and music teachers, twelve each of ELA and math teachers,

and six science teachers at the elementary (K-6) level, and six art and music teachers, and two

each of ELA, math and science teachers from the Quaboag Regional Middle Innovation School

(grades 7-8). Altogether, this population of 42 teachers was selected to fill the need to integrate

arts programming with math and science at these schools. Andover will recruit a total of 60

teachers across art, music, math, ELA, science and social studies content areas, and reading,

special education and ESL teachers from its five elementary schools (grade 5) and three middle

schools (grades 6-8). This addresses the district’s need to follow up on the middle school project-

based learning initiative, and to promote an effective transition between elementary and middle

schools, including learning expectations.

As described in further detail below, we propose to begin teacher work with a summer

institute, where Wootton and other education and arts professionals lead novices through the

Performance Cycle, pausing in between each activity to discuss methods for including arts-based

exercises in teachers’ classroom lesson plans. Teachers evaluate their existing teaching styles,

design “performances of understanding” around a series of complex texts supported by the

Common Core and collaboratively plan large-scale units of study with essential questions and

conceptually challenging themes. Job-embedded professional development and a symposium for

reflection and evaluation during the subsequent implementation year ensure that the work of the


Page e28



summer institute makes it into classroom practice and ensures ongoing reassessment and

improvement.

(2) Significance: (a) the likely utility of the products (such as information,

materials, processes, or techniques) that will result from the proposed project,

including the potential for their being used effectively in other settings.

The highly-regarded and influential report on arts in education, Champions of Change:

The Impact of the Arts on Learning focuses on how learners can develop higher levels of

cognitive competency through engagement with the arts (Fiske, 1999). One of the report’s

critical research findings is that learning in and through the arts can help “level the playing field”

for youth from disadvantaged circumstances. The report asserts that “high arts participation

makes a more significant difference to students from low-income backgrounds than for high-

income students” and, most importantly, that “sustained involvement in particular art forms –

music and theater – are highly correlated with success in mathematics and reading.” Acting to

increase arts education and integration brings a responsibility to collect and share the

information, materials, processes and techniques that result in order to maximize their potential

to be used effectively in other settings.

In accordance with this research and in an effort to address the specific needs of students

at risk of educational failure, the ArtsLiteracy organization has worked since 1998 to develop its

framework and professional development practices based on the premise that partnerships among

practicing teachers and professional artists create powerful learning opportunities for at-risk

students both in core academic subjects and in the arts. The organization has developed: 1) a

curriculum development model, the Performance Cycle, which includes a set of general

principles and a collection of model activities continually in development by project facilitators,

teachers, and artists; and 2) a linked professional development model that has been in continuous


Page e29



use at Brown University, the Habla Lab School in Mexico, and in various school districts and

schools since 1998. The ArtsLiteracy organization has supported teacher-artist collaborations in

a wide range of public school classrooms and after-school programs through to exhibition.

Because the Performance Cycle is constructed as a framework for development and not as a

prescribed or scripted curriculum, it is necessarily adaptable to a number of different settings and

subjects. Already, the Performance Cycle has been applied to a considerable range of materials

in language arts and math and science classrooms, from Ovid and Shakespeare to the Bill of

Rights. The activities developed have shown a high level of adaptability across numerous student

populations and content areas.

The ArtsLiteracy organization documents its pedagogical strategies at its project website

and Wootton and Landay collaborated on a book about their work, including evaluation and

literacy development research (Landay and Wootton, 2012). The book offers a theoretical

framework and rationale for using performance in the classroom, examples of curriculum units

and activities, and samples of student work. Intended for an audience of teachers and

administrators, the book also presents a list of principles for effective professional development

and examples of how those are implemented in Performance Cycle training and implementation

activities. This work has also been presented by the authors at regional and national conferences.

There is still a need for greater study, implementation, experience and dissemination to a

broader audience. The present proposed large-scale implementation includes up to 120 teachers

and 3,000 students. Over its four project years, the New England ArtsLiteracy project will have

the necessary resources for documentation and dissemination of specific lesson plans, teacher

and student experiences, and evaluation results comparing urban, suburban and rural

implementation across a variety of content areas and diverse student sub-populations.


Page e30



Dissemination will occur through three platforms: 1) digital platforms for communication

and collaboration; 2) presentations locally and at regional and national conferences; and 3) train

the trainer programs in districts and potentially through partner museums. Teachers anywhere

will be able to access project materials from print and electronic resources that will not only

present actual curricula but will explain how the pedagogical approach was adapted to different

classroom settings. Initially, participating teachers will use digital platforms to post materials,

experiences and discuss their own and each other’s work, including asking and answering

questions, expressing opinions, and communicating about upcoming events. At the end of the

project, curricula, evaluation reports, implementation notes, exhibition materials (subject to state

and federal regulations for student privacy) and other project artifacts may be hosted by the

ArtsLiteracy organization website (free to the public) or on a website created specifically by the

project. Teachers anywhere will be able to access information about the New England

ArtsLiteracy project. Part of the planning period will be devoted to determining how best to

publish and disseminate these materials.

The project leadership will look to disseminate their experiences, exemplary student

work, and project evaluation through conference presentations or journal articles. Already,

ArtsLiteracy at Brown University has national exposure to the education community and

audiences are expected to be interested in further information about current implementation,

correlation with new learning standards, and outcomes. Audiences targeted for distribution will

include the National Council of Teachers of English, a national teacher association devoted to

improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts, the New England

Consortium of Artist Educator Professionals, a regional association of five regional state arts

councils (including the Massachusetts Cultural Council) and artist educators, and the Association


Page e31



for Supervision and Curriculum Development, to reach the greater body of educators, among

others.

Another way to help new teachers capitalize on the power of the arts is to partner them

with teachers and artists already trained to integrate arts into the core curriculum. The proposed

project will teach teachers not only how to work as a team of colleagues, but also how to build

community within their classrooms through purposeful work that unites students around a

common goal. Community building is one of the Performance Cycle model’s well-documented

strengths; over the last six years numerous teachers have responded poignantly to this aspect of

the work. As one teacher explains,

At the end of my first year, as I was thinking about what happened, one of the

thoughts that occurred to me was that the nature of the work expanded my

community…suddenly it got much bigger, much bigger as it became part of

the fabric of what artists and teachers do together and what teachers can do

together. And that was wonderfully satisfying to me, it was really one of the

highlights of the experience was that I was no longer in that insular, isolated

world.

Thus, human resources, specifically teachers and artists trained to implement the Performance

Cycle, are also an important project-created resource. There is potential for the districts and arts

partners to work together to train further teachers.

FISKE, E.B. CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE: THE IMPACT OF THE ARTS ON LEARNING. PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE

ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES AND THE ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP (1999)

LANDAY, E., AND K. WOOTTON. A REASON TO READ: LINKING LITERACY AND THE ARTS. HARVARD

EDUCATION PRESS; CAMBRIDGE, MA (2012)


Page e32



(3) Quality of the Project Design: (a) the extent to which the project design

reflects up-to-date knowledge from research and effective practices.

Two studies of student team reading and writing, a program that parallels the

Performance Cycle model, and was developed by Robert Stevens in 1989 and refined in 1992,

which fell within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol, met What Works

Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations (IES, 2011). Results for reading

comprehension were based on the California Achievement Test, a norm- and criterion-referenced

annual test. The Reading Comprehension subtest measures information recall, meaning

construction, form analysis, and meaning evaluation of different selections. According to WWC

calculations, the effects were not statistically significant (when adjusted for clustering), but the

average effect on reading comprehension in these two studies was large enough to be considered

substantively important according to WWC criteria (i.e., an effect size of at least 0.25). Based on

these two quasi-experimental studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for student

team reading and writing on adolescent learners to be medium to large for the comprehension

domain, a goal for this project.

The student team reading and writing program incorporates (1) cooperative learning

classroom processes; (2) a literature anthology for high-interest reading material; (3) explicit

instruction in reading comprehension; (4) integrated reading, writing, and language arts

instruction; and (5) a writing process approach to language arts (IES, 2011). The Performance

Cycle model contains all of the significant elements of the student team reading and writing

program, including 1) Partner Reading, in which students first read silently, then take turns

reading orally with a partner, 2) Story Retelling, in which students summarize stories in their

own words, 3) Story-Related Writing, in which students write in responses to prompts about their

reading, and 4) Extension Activities, in which students complete cross-curricular research, fine


Page e33



arts, dramatics, and media activities as they explore themes in the stories/books. Parallels include

first the "cooperative" emphasis - reading is a social act and conversation and creation around

reading enhances the comprehension of all learners. The second is the emphasis on literature,

primary sources, informational text, essays, speeches, or digital text (and its importance for

vocabulary development), particularly for students from economically disadvantaged

backgrounds. Third, the idea of integrating reading, writing, and language arts experiences is

expanded to move even beyond this level of integration to incorporate "multiliteracies" - the

various performance and visual symbol systems we use to communicate - into the reading

process. Thus, we believe that the existing evidence supports that this project will improve the

academic performance of students in elementary or middle school grades, including their skills in

creating, performing, and responding to the arts.

A study of arts learning using a diverse sample of programs and practices across a range

of twelve different types of schools involving over 2,000 children in grades 4-8 demonstrated

quantitative effects of arts on school climate, school teaching and learning inventory, teacher

perceptions of student imagination, risk-taking, cooperative learning, and expression, and student

self-esteem, confidence and competence and creativity, and also described qualitative effects of

arts learning (Burton et al, 2000). In the overall study, students in a defined “high-arts” group

had significantly higher scores (generally twice or three times the scores of students in a “low-

arts” group) for creativity, fluency, originality, risk-taking, originality and cooperative learning,

and reading and mathematics self-concepts that were twice that of students in the low arts group.

More affluent schools tended to have more arts, but when corrected for this variable the

differences between the high and low arts groups were still significant. Overall, the study showed

that children who had high arts experiences tended to think that they were better at reading,

math, and in school generally.


Page e34



To be effective in helping students develop literacy, the development of both first and

second languages needs to be embraced (Wootton, 2008). Benefits of field trips to art

institutions, including greater interest in the arts, tolerance of differing viewpoints, historical

empathy, art content knowledge, and critical thinking about art, were recently shown in a large-

scale study to disproportionately benefit students from disadvantaged backgrounds (Greene et al,

2014). In another comprehensive study of ten case schools, designed to ask the question “How

do the arts contribute to the improvement of schools that serve economically disadvantaged

communities?” the authors found that the arts connected schools with their communities and

enabled them to create powerful contexts and conditions for learning (Stevenson and Deasy,

2005). One of the case study schools was implementing the Performance Cycle model. The

authors found that the prospect of exhibiting or performing their artwork endows the arts

learning experience with a purpose that focuses energies and heightens the importance of its

challenges. The organizational tasks of putting together an exhibition or performance build

student skills in the “four C’s”. Teachers reported that the Performance Cycle directly supports

students’ literacy development from story comprehension to sophisticated interpretation of texts,

identification of characters and their motivations (particularly through performing text), and

recognition of irony and other literary devices. Arts experiences improved the students’ grasp of

the significance, structures and process of language. The model implementation also improved

teacher satisfaction and renewal and improved mutual understanding and communication

between teacher and student (particularly in the context of ELL). The authors used the term

“Third Space” to describe how art doesn’t derive meaning solely from the artist (first space) or

from the viewer (second space), but from the interaction between them (third space). They also

used this term to describe the changes that students, teachers, artists, parents and principals said


Page e35



happened to them and their schools when the arts were made a central feature of a school’s

philosophy and programs.

BURTON, J.M., R. HOROWITZ AND H. ABELES. LEARNING IN AND THROUGH THE ARTS: THE QUESTION OF

TRANSFER. STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION (2000) 41 (3): 228-257.

GREENE, J.P., B. KISIDA AND D.H. BOWEN. THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF FIELD TRIPS. EDUCATION NEXT

(2014) 14 (1): 78-86.

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES. WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE INTERVENTION REPORT:

ADOLESCENT LITERACY, STUDENT TEAM READING AND WRITING. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. (NOVEMBER

2011)

STEVENSON, L.M. AND R.J. DEASY. THIRD SPACE: WHEN LEARNING MATTERS. ARTS EDUCATION

PARTNERSHIP (2005)

WOOTTON, K. A CONSTANT SEARCH: ARTS INTEGRATION IN CROSS-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENTS. TEACHING

ARTIST JOURNAL (2008) 6 (3): 185–196.

(3) Quality of the Project Design: (b) the extent to which the proposed project

is supported by strong theory

The project’s theory of action (figure 2) reflects education research and past Performance

Cycle model implementation evaluation. The New England ArtsLiteracy project will support the

development, evaluation, documentation, and dissemination of the Performance Cycle learning

model through: sustained professional development for up to 120 elementary and middle

school teachers of grades K – 8; services to students, including units of study developed by

school arts and content area teachers, enhanced by collaboration with visiting artists and field

trips to participating museums; and project administration that oversees program activities,

ongoing evaluation to inform further implementation and development, and dissemination of

results through electronic platforms, and local and national conferences or workshops. The


Page e36



project evaluation, described in detail below, will measure the extent to which these activities

and their outputs (meetings, trainings, units and lessons, performances and exhibitions) have led

to the desired outcomes of improved teacher knowledge and new teaching behaviors, improved

student engagement and academic self-concept, better learning outcomes, particularly in reading

comprehension, and improved school climate and increased capacity to offer integrated arts

curricula.

Figure 2

The final professional development plan will be created during the planning year, in

tandem with finalizing the evaluation plan, by all project partners working together as a project

advisory committee (described in the management plan). The project proposes to hire Tina

Blythe, a collaboration inquiry education specialist, to facilitate the year one meetings (described


Page e37



in the Management Plan). She will work closely with Debra Smith, from Endicott College, who

is leading the evaluation. All partners have agreed that the centerpiece of the professional

development will be Performance Cycle training, led by Wootton. However, we want to be sure

that there is space for content sessions led by museum staff, embedded technology, and support

in assessing student work (led by Smith and Blythe). We also want to match themes for each

year with the needs and goals of the districts and schools, and discussions of the merits of

heterogeneous or homogeneous groupings of teachers in cohorts by grade level (K-8, 5-8, and 6-

8 teachers will participate, by district) or content area (visual arts, drama, dance, music, science,

math, social studies and ELA).

The partners have all agreed that the New England ArtsLiteracy sustained professional

development includes intensive week-long summer institutes, units of study, job-embedded

professional development including both peer and facilitator class observations, and a mid-

year symposium.

Forty teachers will be recruited in year one and in each of the subsequent two project

years. Museum staff, project staff, and Wootton will visit each district and meet with faculty at

participating schools, including a short presentation about the Performance Cycle and/or sample

class, in collaboration with museum and project staff. Each of the three summer institutes will

be hosted by a different cultural partner (we will recruit a third partner in the Worcester (MA)

area). This will reinforce the effect of the arts on increasing participant engagement and give

teachers access to art and artists as they think about selecting texts and developing units of study.

The institutes will include opportunities to reflect and work together on planned units of study,

and special presentations by the host and other museum’s staff focused on the collections and

their professional development and student field trip offerings.


Page e38



Each Performance Cycle unit of study revolves around a central text, and all activities are

designed to reflect the themes of that text. The Performance Cycle (figure 1) starts with Building

Community, a process involving ‘getting to know you’ and ‘trust-building’ activities that not

only set up later text-based work by ensuring an open learning environment, but are also

purposefully connected to the unit at hand, giving participants (teachers in the institute, students

in units of study) opportunities to really get to know each other and to become interested in the

core text around which the unit is built. Participants are then invited to Enter Text. Visual art,

photography, dance, rap, music, and comedy are examples of art forms used to command

participants’ attention in entering text workshops, as well as throughout entire units, in order to

engage, inspire, and expose participants to a variety of art forms as mediums through which to

understand and interpret a text.

Student engagement is brought to the next level through Comprehending Text.

Comprehension activities focus on specific close reading, writing, and communication skills

outlined in the Massachusetts ELA and Literacy Frameworks. The next stage, Creating Text,

explicitly initiates the artistic process as participants build on the original text through

reinterpretation. Whatever form (poem, play, monologue, short movie, dance or song) the new

text might take, the activities that lead to text production are designed to explore spaces around a

text, for example by examining possibilities of what might happen after a text ends, between

scenes, or in the minds of characters. The text that participants create during this period of the

unit becomes a rough draft for the final performance.

Rehearsing and Revising Text takes the rough draft created and through a rehearsal

process provides a chance for participants to continuously revise and consolidate the text and

structure of their performance. Feedback – from peers, the teacher and professionals – allows for

continuous assessment and elevates the creative work to a higher quality level. At this stage,


Page e39



teachers are addressing three main concerns: 1) the quality of participant understanding and

comfort with the original text; 2) the quality of participant writing in both creative and technical

realms; 3) participants’ comfort with giving a public performance. Finally, participants Perform

Text. Through their performance, participants have opportunities to show off their reading and

writing skills to their peers and instructors, plus family and friends in the community (for

students) in a high-stakes yet supportive environment..

At the center of the Performance Cycle is Reflection, the embedded meta-cognitive

“thinking-about-thinking” process that forces teachers, collaborating professionals, and students

to constantly evaluate and increase the quality of their participation and performance. From five-

minute activities to entire days of classroom work, reflection through debriefing is essential to

Performance Cycle work. Teachers and professionals reflect on their practice and teachers help

their students think about the work they are doing (often with the intent of applying new skills to

a range of activities).

Our cultural partners have much to contribute as well. In March 2014 a new Maker

Lounge, dedicated to creativity and innovation through hands-on exploration with technology,

materials and ideas, joined the vast art galleries at the Peabody Essex Museum. As a hands-on

interactive space, it joins the award-winning Art & Nature Center at the museum, which features

original exhibitions that investigate our interconnections with nature through contemporary art,

memorable objects and interactive experiences, as a destination for interdisciplinary exploration.

The museum offers a wide range of professional development programs for teachers, including

an annual summer institute, seminars, workshops and informal educator evenings at the museum.

The Addison Gallery of American Art presents approximately twelve shows in a typical year,

including both permanent collection installations and major traveling exhibitions, carefully

balanced to represent a wide range of art, across time and media. Seasonal Educator Evenings


Page e40



along with Teacher Exhibitions Guides (available on the Addison’s website) are offered

throughout the year to inspire teachers in seeing the Addison’s collection and temporary

exhibitions as opportunities for meaningful and interdisciplinary opportunities for learning. Our

third partnership, to be developed, will be with a cultural institution in Worcester (MA), which

boasts music performance, visual arts, and science museums.

In subsequent project years, one or two days of the summer institute will involve separate

sessions for reflection and further training for and by teacher mentors. Returning mentors are

those participants who have already completed one cycle of summer institute, units of study, job-

embedded professional development and the mid-year symposium in the prior year, and who

have committed to continuing to implement in a subsequent year(s). These mentors will serve an

important role as models and future trainers. They will receive an implementation budget in each

year that they participate, as well as the opportunity for further engagement with artists, museum

staff, and/or museum professional development

application for grants under the · 2015. 1. 29. · 04/24/2014 na andover, town of 046001069...

Documents